Usb hd and Airport extreme 4th gen?

[Frengers]

I am looking for the best and cheapest way to attach a usb drive to my network so I can share files, iTunes library etc between our macs and pc's.

I've seen a few airport extreme 4th gens around for cheap.
Would it work for what I need? or do you guys have any alternatives?


Thanks

 

[Weaselboy]

I am looking for the best and cheapest way to attach a usb drive to my network so I can share files, iTunes library etc between our macs and pc's.

I've seen a few airport extreme 4th gens around for cheap.
Would it work for what I need? or do you guys have any alternatives?


Thanks

That will work just fine for sharing files, but don't try to use that setup as a Time Machine backup as it is not supported. But plain file sharing will work.

 

[Boyd01]

I am looking for the best and cheapest way to attach a usb drive to my network so I can share files, iTunes library etc between our macs and pc's.

When you say "share iTunes between macs and pcs", do you mean that more than one computer will be using iTunes at the same time? You should not do that; run iTunes on one computer and use home sharing to access the library from the other machines.

 

[McRumour]

I am looking for the best and cheapest way to attach a usb drive to my network so I can share files, iTunes library etc between our macs and pc's. I've seen a few airport extreme 4th gens around for cheap. Would it work for what I need? Thanks

fine for sharing files, but don't try to use that setup as a Time Machine backup as it is not supported.

As Weaselboy says, if you're aiming to use an Extreme for Time Machine backups - Apple don't support that.
They only support the newest (6th generation) model.

Furthermore the 4th gen. often fails to work for those trying to use it for TM backups despite that warning....
Scroll down and read the next to last posting at this link. It cautions against trying to use the gen.4 Extreme with Time Machine and clearly explains the issue:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/22364729#22364729

btw: I'm selling (locally, cash only) a new, never opened 6th gen. at the moment on Craigs List....
Good luck to you!

 

[Frengers]

Perfect, thank you all.

No plans using it for time machine anyways so no worries there. And will definitely look into the iTunes home sharing option.


I do have a follow up question though.

Is it possible to use a usb hub with the 4th gen and use multiple usb drives and printers?

 

[Weaselboy]

Is it possible to use a usb hub with the 4th gen and use multiple usb drives and printers?

Yes you can, but people have better results with a powered hub.

 

[Frengers]

Yes you can, but people have better results with a powered hub.

Great, thanks a lot!!

 

[rkuo]

The Airport Extreme hosting a USB drive is extremely unstable. I speak from experience. Get a real NAS or sharing solution.

 

[Frengers]

The Airport Extreme hosting a USB drive is extremely unstable. I speak from experience. Get a real NAS or sharing solution.

That doesn't sound good, what gen did you have? and did you use it for Time Machine or just regular storage?

Thanks

 

[rkuo]

Time machine usage is stable if done on a Time Capsule or presumably the latest 802.11ac extreme that officially supports USB drives for Time Machine usage.

The NAS is unstable. It was a 2nd generation 802.11n extreme, but I haven't seen any indication that this has gotten better over time. You can see this if you dig through SmallNetBuilder's reviews and it matches my own experience. If you load it heavily or try to do two copies at once it will often just literally stop working. Don't even bother.

Just to be clear, I think the Airport's are the best consumer wi-fi access points due to their stability and overall compatibility. But the NAS stuff is asking too much of them.